List of presidents of South Korea

The president of the Republic of Korea serves as the chief executive of the government of the Republic of Korea and the commander-in-chief of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

To avoid confusion, all the names on this list follow the Eastern order convention (family name first, given name second) for consistency.

Presidential standard and seal of the president of the Republic of Korea

• Top left: Rhee Syng-man became the first president of the Republic of Korea in 1948.
• Top right: Park Chung Hee was the longest-serving president, taking power during the 1961 coup d'etat, sometimes named the Tiger of Yushin Constitution in the 1970s.
• Bottom left: Roh Tae-woo was elected during the 1987 presidential election, becoming the first president to be directly elected under the democratic constitution.
• Bottom right: Lee Ju-ho is the incumbent acting president.

The South Korean government constitutionally considers the Korean Provisional Government (KPG) to be its predecessor.^[1] The KPG was established in 1919 as a government in exile in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It had nine different heads of state between September 1919 and August 1948.

Under the 1988 Constitution of the Sixth Republic of Korea, the presidential term is set at five years with no re-election. The president must be a South Korean citizen, at least 40 years old, who has lived in South Korea for 5 years.^[2] The term was previously set at four years during the First Republic from 1948 to 1960, including a two-term limit that was repealed in 1954. The presidency was changed into a ceremonial role elected by legislators to five-year terms during the Second Republic from 1960 to 1963. The Third Republic returned the presidency to a directly-elected position with a four-year term in 1963 and repealed the two-term limit in 1969. Under the Yushin Constitution of the Fourth Republic adopted in 1972, the presidency became an indirectly elected position with six-year terms and no limits to re-election. It was replaced with a seven-year term under the Fifth Republic in 1981, which retained the indirect elections but prohibited a second term.^[3]

As of 2024^[update], thirteen people have served in full capacity as president of South Korea^[4] since the office was formally established on 24 July 1948, when Syngman Rhee took office after being elected by the Constituent National Assembly.^[3] The longest-serving president is Park Chung Hee, who held the office for 18 years from a 1961 coup until his assassination in 1979 following a period of authoritarian rule.^[3][5] The first and only woman to hold the presidency was his daughter Park Geun-hye, who was elected in 2012 and removed from office in 2017 after her impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court of Korea.^[3][6]

Yoon Suk Yeol assumed office on 10 May 2022 and was impeached by the National Assembly on 14 December 2024 following his martial law declaration. His powers were suspended until his impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court on 4 April 2025, which formally ended Yoon's presidency.^[7][8] During the suspension of his powers, the prime minister served as acting president; prime minister Han Duck-soo was himself impeached from the acting presidency on 27 December 2024 and replaced by deputy prime minister Choi Sang-mok, who became acting president.^[9] Han Duck-soo was reinstated by the Constitutional Court on 24 March 2025 and resigned on 1 May, when he was replaced by deputy prime minister Lee Ju-ho.^[10][11] The next president will be decided by a presidential election, scheduled for 3 June 2025—within the 60-day window required by the constitution.^[12]

List of presidents

Political parties
Conservative (current People Power Party)   Liberal (current Democratic Party)   Military   Independent
Status
Denotes acting president

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Election
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
President under the United States Army Military Government in Korea
1		Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	24 July 1948	15 August 1948	22 days	NARRKI	1st (1948)
Presidents of the First Republic
(1)		Syngman Rhee 이승만 李承晩 (1875–1965)	15 August 1948	27 April 1960[a][b]	11 years, 256 days	NARRKI Liberal	2nd (1952) 3rd (1956) March 1960
—		Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	27 April 1960	15 June 1960	49 days	Independent	—
Presidents of the Second Republic
—		Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	15 June 1960	15 June 1960	0 days	Independent	—
—		Kwak Sang-hoon 곽상훈 郭尙勳 (1896–1980) Acting	16 June 1960	23 June 1960	7 days	Democratic	—
—		Ho Chong 허정 許政 (1896–1988) Acting	23 June 1960	7 August 1960	45 days	Independent	—
—		Baek Nak-jun 백낙준 白樂濬 (1895–1985) Acting	8 August 1960	12 August 1960	4 days		—
2		Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	13 August 1960	16 May 1961	276 days	Democratic	4th (August 1960)
Presidents under the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (SCNR)[c]
(2)		Yun Po-sun 윤보선 尹潽善 (1897–1990)	16 May 1961	24 March 1962[d]	312 days	Democratic New Democratic	—
—		General Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979) Acting	24 March 1962	17 December 1963	1 year, 268 days	Military Democratic Republican	—
President of the Third Republic
3		Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	17 December 1963	21 November 1972	8 years, 340 days	Democratic Republican	5th (1963) 6th (1967) 7th (1971)
Presidents of the Fourth Republic
(3)		Park Chung Hee 박정희 朴正熙 (1917–1979)	21 November 1972	26 October 1979[e]	6 years, 339 days	Democratic Republican	8th (1972) 9th (1978)
—		Choi Kyu-hah 최규하 崔圭夏 (1919–2006)	26 October 1979	6 December 1979	41 days	Independent	—
4			6 December 1979[f]	16 August 1980[g]	255 days		10th (1979)
—		Park Choong-hoon 박충훈 朴忠勳 (1919–2001) Acting	16 August 1980	1 September 1980	16 days	Democratic Republican	—
5		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	1 September 1980	24 February 1981	176 days	Military (Hanahoe) Democratic Justice (Hanahoe)	11th (1980)
President of the Fifth Republic
(5)		Chun Doo-hwan 전두환 全斗煥 (1931–2021)	25 February 1981	24 February 1988	6 years	Democratic Justice (Hanahoe)	12th (1981)
Presidents of the Sixth Republic
6		Roh Tae-woo 노태우 盧泰愚 (1932–2021)	25 February 1988	24 February 1993	4 years	Democratic Justice (Hanahoe) Democratic Liberal (Hanahoe) Independent (Hanahoe)	13th (1987)
7		Kim Young-sam 김영삼 金泳三 (1927–2015)	25 February 1993	24 February 1998	4 years	Democratic Liberal New Korea Independent	14th (1992)
8		Kim Dae-jung 김대중 金大中 (1924–2009)	25 February 1998	24 February 2003	4 years	National Congress Millennium Democratic Independent	15th (1997)
9		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	25 February 2003	12 March 2004[h]	1 year, 16 days	Millennium Democratic Independent	16th (2002)
—		Goh Kun 고건 高建 (born 1938) Acting	12 March 2004[h]	14 May 2004	63 days	Millennium Democratic	—
(9)		Roh Moo-hyun 노무현 盧武鉉 (1946–2009)	14 May 2004	24 February 2008	3 years, 286 days	Uri Independent	—
10		Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	25 February 2008	24 February 2013	4 years	Grand National Saenuri	17th (2007)
11		Park Geun-hye 박근혜 朴槿惠 (born 1952)	25 February 2013	10 March 2017[i]	4 years, 13 days	Saenuri Liberty Korea	18th (2012)
—		Hwang Kyo-ahn 황교안 黃敎安 (born 1957) Acting	9 December 2016[i]	9 May 2017	151 days	Independent	—
12		Moon Jae-in 문재인 文在寅 (born 1953)	10 May 2017	9 May 2022	4 years	Democratic	19th (2017)
13		Yoon Suk Yeol 윤석열 尹錫悅 (born 1960)	10 May 2022	4 April 2025[j]	2 years, 329 days	People Power	20th (2022)
—		Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting	14 December 2024[j]	27 December 2024[k]	13 days	Independent	—
—		Choi Sang-mok 최상목 崔相穆 (born 1963) Acting	27 December 2024[k]	24 March 2025[l]	87 days	Independent	—
—		Han Duck-soo 한덕수 韓悳洙 (born 1949) Acting	24 March 2025[l]	1 May 2025[m]	38 days	Independent	—
—		Lee Ju-ho 이주호 李周浩 (born 1961) Acting	2 May 2025[n]	Incumbent	18 days	Independent	—

Timeline

Ideology		#	Time in office	Name(s)
	Conservative	9	21765 days[o]	Choi Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam, Lee Myung-bak, Park Chung Hee, Park Geun-hye, Roh Tae-woo, Syngman Rhee, and Yoon Suk Yeol
	Liberal	4	6067 days	Kim Dae-jung, Moon Jae-in, Roh Moo-hyun, and Yun Po-sun

Timeline of South Korean governments v t e

See also

• South Korea portal

• Government of South Korea
• List of presidents of South Korea by age
• List of monarchs of Korea
• List of presidents of South Korea by time in office
• List of presidents of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• List of prime ministers of South Korea
• Presidential elections in South Korea
• Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
• Vice President of South Korea

Notes

1. Rhee resigned following the April Revolution.
2. At 2:00 p.m. on April 26, the National Assembly voted unanimously for Rhee to step down immediately, to hold the presidential election, and to amend the Constitution to a cabinet system. At 3:00 p.m. on April 27, Rhee’s resignation submitted to the National Assembly was accepted.
3. Styled as the Military Revolutionary Committee until 20 May 1961.
4. Yun resigned in the aftermath of the May 16 coup.
5. Park was assassinated by KCIA director Kim Jae-gyu.
6. Chun Doo-hwan became de facto leader of the country in the aftermath of the Coup d'état of December Twelfth.
7. Choi resigned in the aftermath of the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth.
8. Roh Moo-hyun was impeached by the National Assembly on 12 March 2004. Powers and duties were assumed by prime minister Goh Kun as acting president. Roh resumed his powers and duties on 14 May 2004, after the Constitutional Court struck down the motion to impeach.^[13]
9. Park Geun-hye was impeached by the National Assembly on 9 December 2016. Powers and duties were assumed by prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as acting president. Park was removed from office after the impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court on 10 March 2017.^[14][15]
10. Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the National Assembly on 14 December 2024. Powers and duties were assumed by prime minister Han Duck-soo as acting president. Yoon was removed from office after the impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court on 4 April 2025.^[16]
11. Han Duck-soo assumed the role as acting president upon the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, but Han himself was impeached by the National Assembly on 27 December 2024. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, who is next in line to the succession took over both powers and duties as acting president and acting prime Minister.^[17]
12. Han Duck-soo was reinstated by the Constitutional Court on 24 March 2025.^[18]
13. Han resigned to run for president in the 2025 South Korean presidential election. On 10 May, Han withdrew his candidacy after the reinstatement of Kim Moon-soo as the People Power Party nominee.
14. Choi Sang-mok was initially expected to assume the acting presidency and prime ministership again on 2 May, but he resigned on 1 May to avoid an impeachment vote by the National Assembly.^[19]
15. As of 20 May 2025.